I had a male co-worker who, despite being single and childless, decided that he knew everything about childbirth and raising children. He managed to alienate at least half of the female staff on his first day by saying that anyone who used daycare was a terrible mother.

When I'm talking to my mother about something that frustrates me about my 4-month-old DD (refusal to nap, difficulty interpreting her crying, etc.) and her response is, "Well, once you have that figured out, it'll change!"

She says it all the time, and she means well. She's trying to lighten the mood with humor. I know that. But when I'm at my wit's end and tearing my hair out, all I hear is "HAHAHAHA you'll never figure anything out no matter how hard you try! Abandon all hope! You can't win!!!" And for some strange reason, that makes me feel worse.

When I'm talking to my mother about something that frustrates me about my 4-month-old DD (refusal to nap, difficulty interpreting her crying, etc.) and her response is, "Well, once you have that figured out, it'll change!"

She says it all the time, and she means well. She's trying to lighten the mood with humor. I know that. But when I'm at my wit's end and tearing my hair out, all I hear is "HAHAHAHA you'll never figure anything out no matter how hard you try! Abandon all hope! You can't win!!!" And for some strange reason, that makes me feel worse.

That's funny because my mom used to say the same thing to me when DD was an infant. I actually found it humorous and comforting in a "this, too, shall pass...(but then something else will come up)" sort of way. I totally see where you're coming from, though.

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How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. -George Washington Carver

My preteen sons and their interests in girls. Not that they've ever had an issue with cooties or thought girls were gross, but there was a nice little period for a couple years when they didn't seem too interested. My middle schooler, well that's understandable. My 10 year old now is interested in a girl and apparently she in him.

What really irritates me though is when the 10 year old asks me for advice and then argues with me about it. Just now he wanted to know if it would be okay if he asked her if she was trying to make him jealous by "flirting" with other boys in their class. Naturally I tell him absolutely not.

PB2: But why?Me: Because you'd be accusing her of being manipulative and deceitful, which will hurt her feelings and/or make her mad.PB2: But I don't think that would hurt her feelings, she's pretty tough.Me: It's still not appropriate and definitely not a great way to start things off with you two.PB2: But-Me: Why did you ask me for advice if you think you know better? And might I add I have 24 years on you?PB2: Yeah, but how many relationships have you had? (he asks, knowing his father is the only one I've ever had)Me: One that's going on 15 years, and partly because I've learned a few things from observing my friend's relationships.PB2: Oh. Good point.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

My preteen sons and their interests in girls. Not that they've ever had an issue with cooties or thought girls were gross, but there was a nice little period for a couple years when they didn't seem too interested. My middle schooler, well that's understandable. My 10 year old now is interested in a girl and apparently she in him.

What really irritates me though is when the 10 year old asks me for advice and then argues with me about it. Just now he wanted to know if it would be okay if he asked her if she was trying to make him jealous by "flirting" with other boys in their class. Naturally I tell him absolutely not.

PB2: But why?Me: Because you'd be accusing her of being manipulative and deceitful, which will hurt her feelings and/or make her mad.PB2: But I don't think that would hurt her feelings, she's pretty tough.Me: It's still not appropriate and definitely not a great way to start things off with you two.PB2: But-Me: Why did you ask me for advice if you think you know better? And might I add I have 24 years on you?PB2: Yeah, but how many relationships have you had? (he asks, knowing his father is the only one I've ever had)Me: One that's going on 15 years, and partly because I've learned a few things from observing my friend's relationships.PB2: Oh. Good point.

You are also female and there for have more of an in site in to how this young lady may respond.

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“For too long, we've assumed that there is a single template for human nature, which is why we diagnose most deviations as disorders. But the reality is that there are many different kinds of minds. And that's a very good thing.” - Jonah Lehrer

The part about her being tough was the best laugh I had all day. DS, now 14, was only interested in women of driving age until last year. Watching him flirt with college-age women was highly embarrassing.

LK1

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“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."-J.R.R Tolkien

Heh, speaking of teenagers, my 15-year-old daughter is driving me up the wall. When she's in a bad mood, she'll argue about everything.

The other day, we had this conversation:

Me: Aw! Our neighbour has a new cat. You can see her through their French doors.Daughter: Those aren't French doors. They're just windows.Me: Are you sure?Husband: She's right - they're windows.Me: Oh, okay.Daughter: *belligerently* How come you believed DAD and not ME?Me: Because DAD doesn't automatically contradict everything I say!

The insistence that one *has* to be religious. This is nothing against religion, just the assertion that it's necessary for everyone. Someone was speaking of a personal tragedy, and they said "Only [deity] can get you through that." That's not only insulting to atheists and agnostics, that's insulting to the human race, to imply that one cannot survive a tragedy unless they have outside help, that no one can be self-sufficient in that manner.

Again, religion is fine, as long as one keeps in mind that not everyone is.

I had a male co-worker who, despite being single and childless, decided that he knew everything about childbirth and raising children. He managed to alienate at least half of the female staff on his first day by saying that anyone who used daycare was a terrible mother.

I had no idea eHell ladies were such good actresses. You all had the poor guy fooled

I used to surround myself with people like this. Occasionally I think, "Oh no. I probably just had a bad attitude and just perceived everyone as bossy." And then I remember that on two occasions, I had a boyfriend try and explain to me that I was treating my menstrual cramps wrong. Yes - I mean I went out with TWO guys who did this. When I explained that my condition meant that slightly different meds worked for me, they accused me of lying about it just because "you have to be right."

What was wrong with me? What was wrong with THEM?

I had a guy I dated tell me the same thing...my rather emotional response "When you have menstrual cramps, you can tell me how to make myself feel better!" He was so surprised I didn't want to go out with him anymore.

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Meditate. Live purely. Quiet the mind. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine. ---Gautama Buddah

...snowbanks.No, not collections of 'precious people', but actual piles of snow.

The snowbanks on the sides of the main roads are getting rather tall. It doesn't help when the snow is piled on a curb that has a slope to it.

When I try to access the main road, I have three options:

1) Try to creep forward until I can see around the snowbank to look for oncoming traffic.This results in being uncomfortably far into the lane.

2) Looking waaaaay up the road to a lower spot and watching for cars, then trying to figure out where the gap between cars is. This can result in some cars being missed. (Which is how I ended up slamming on my breaks to avoid T-boning someone.)

I seem to absorb movie lines by osmosis, or something. I caught one of the "Ernest" movies with Jim Varney, and decided to watch it for the nostalgia. Today, during a conversation with my brother, I caught myself following up an explanation with "KnoWhatIMean?" There was a beat as we both realized it, and he laughed and said, "Okay, Ernest!"

This is probably an odd one, but it does bug me because of the technically incorrect usage: when someone is described as being "naked," but is actually wearing one or more undergarments. Naked (to me) means no clothing of any sort, not just no outerwear. Usually a TV or movie thing, e.g. an episode of Law & Order when the housekeeper dressed a dead man in his tux because she didn't want the police finding him "naked." Except in the crime-establishing scene earlier, he was wearing boxers and an undershirt.

This is probably an odd one, but it does bug me because of the technically incorrect usage: when someone is described as being "naked," but is actually wearing one or more undergarments. Naked (to me) means no clothing of any sort, not just no outerwear. Usually a TV or movie thing, e.g. an episode of Law & Order when the housekeeper dressed a dead man in his tux because she didn't want the police finding him "naked." Except in the crime-establishing scene earlier, he was wearing boxers and an undershirt.

Weeellll...in the Middle Ages, "naked" meant "unarmed", as in not wearing one's sword. So in that sense, the gentleman was naked, no matter how many clothes he was wearing!

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Having multiple light switches in a room and they are not turned right. Like the steps have two switches-one on the top of the stairs and one at the bottom- and the light switch on the bottom is in the up position but the light is off. I will go upstairs and turn the light on/off so the one at the bottom is in the correct position. This goes for what ever room I am in.